This invention relates generally to food trays and more particularly to a tray designed so that a user can simultaneously support the tray and a beverage container thereon with a single hand, which comprises a tray having a bottom containing a beverage container recess and a continuous sidewall which is of lower height adjacent the container recess.
The problem of serving and consuming food and drinks at social functions where guests remain standing or do not have tables for holding plates and drinks is well known. The problem comes from guests having to hold a drink in one hand and a food plate in the other. With both hands occupied, it is difficult for the guests to shake hands or to eat or drink. One attempt to solve this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,858, White, et al. issued Sep. 17, 1968. White discloses a service tray for holding food and drink capable of being held in one hand which has a bottom bounded by a vertical sidewall. The vertical sidewall has openings through which the thumb and index finger of the person may be inserted for grasping a beverage container supported on the bottom of the tray. Use of this tray can be uncomfortable and its manufacture requires expensive injection molding techniques or additional cutting steps to make the thumb and finger openings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,597, Bauman et al., issued May 17, 1988, discloses a tray having a generally C-shaped sidewall and having two end edges opposite a container recess in the bottom surface of the tray, designed to permit a user to simultaneously grasp a beverage container between the users thumb and forefinger while grasping the underside of the tray with the user's remaining fingers. In the Bauman tray, the sidewall height is highest adjacent the container recess. Although the tray disclosed in Bauman is an admirable attempt to overcome this longstanding problem, it has several disadvantages when made from a web of sheet material, for example, a thermoplastic foam such as polystyrene foam. This tray is difficult to produce with any production process involving use of a web of material, as is customary with polystyrene foam, because of problems in trimming the disclosed sidewall surface. In addition, there is no disclosure in Bauman of the nestability and stacking of the disclosed tray nor does Bauman try to minimize what is called stacking cube or the volume of a specified number of stacked trays. The size of the stacking cube for a particular tray product is critical when using a solid or foam thermoplastic to produce the product because cube size greatly affects shipping economics and storage space requirements for thermoplastic products. Shipping cube is even more critical for foam trays, because foam trays will have a bigger cube than that for solid trays of the same design.
Manufacturing, marketing and use of trays also requires that trays are capable of stacking evenly without significant leaning of the stack. Trays must further be readily denested or unstacked by users. Neither White nor Bauman addresses these requirements.
It is an object of this invention to provide a food and beverage tray made from paper, pulp or thermoplastic which is designed to be held in one hand with a thumb on one surface of the tray and the remaining fingers on the bottom surface of the tray. It is another object of this invention to provide an improved food and beverage tray particularly suitable for production from a thermoplastic foam. It is yet another object to provide a food and beverage tray which has a minimized stacking cube. It is yet a further object to provide such a food and beverage tray which overcomes the problems of a significantly uneven or lopsided stack of trays and which is easily denested. The objects of the invention can be obtained through use of the food and beverage tray disclosed herein which comprises a bottom having an upper surface for supporting food items and an outer surface opposite the upper surface; a container recess formed in the bottom for supporting a beverage container; a continuous sidewall extending upwardly from the bottom which is of lower height adjacent the container recess; and a pair of thumb placement surfaces on the upper surface of the bottom and adjacent to the container recess, whereby the tray is adapted to permit a user to grasp the tray with a thumb on either of the thumb placement regions and the remaining fingers on the outer surface of the bottom.